It's a Team's Life

GATS Pride and Polish 2017

By Linda Caffee
Posted Aug 28th 2017 8:37AM

A huge THANK YOU to Premier Truck Groups of Dallas for allowing us to clean our truck in one of their shop bays. It was great to not have to be in the Dallas, Texas sun in August trying to get the truck polished.

This question is asked often “Why go through all of that work for a trophy?” and the answer is simple “Pride in our business as well as our Cascadia”. Our truck was entered in the aftermarket sleeper class and the 2010 and newer working truck class. We have entered the Pride and Polish shows in the past and they are a lot of work and I do mean a lot of work but we sure meet some neat people and hear some great stories about their trucks.

Getting a truck ready for a show is not an easy task and we expected long hours of polishing, waxing, and deep cleaning. Bob had the truck washed and then the work got serious. First the truck is wiped down and then the polishing begins. Paint chips are touched up and scratched buffed out. Everything is waxed and polished including the freight box. The aluminum is polished including all four corners of the box, as well as wheels even though they barely show under the skirts. Even the hoses are polished under the hood. Bob spent two full days with a buffer going over the truck before we pulled into the convention center and then the rags came out and the elbow grease was put to work. Needless to say, by the time the show started Bob was tired and sore but the truck looked GREAT.

While Bob was cleaning, the outside I was at work in the cab and sleeper of the truck. Everyone always jokes about getting the toothbrush and Q-Tips out and that really is not a joke. All of the vents are cleaned, corners are cleaned, and any little crevice where a judge might touch or put their finger inside is spotless. The seats in the front of the truck are basically unassembled and then vacuumed and wiped down. The ceiling of the truck and cab are cleaned and polished as well. This year after having the kitty in the truck and also the puppy it was unbelievable where all the pet hair was hiding. I thought I was all done and while using my head lamp I saw in the corner hiding of our front seats small pet hair balls and I almost had a heart attack! I took the bottom seats loose and vacuumed the crevices again! Head lamps will let you see in the deep dark corners.

The benefit of entering a truck show is getting the truck in tip top condition. We had put off replacing our windshield as it is sand pitted and we got that done, our front seats had pin holes from Squeaky the kitty’s claws and Bob recovered the seats, and Texas the puppy had spilled her water to many times and the wood floor did not look as good as it should so Bob replaced the floor. On the outside of the truck while Bob was polishing he was touching up paint and looking for anything that might be wearing, hoses chaffing, or damage and fixing, tightening, or replacing as he went along. Not only is the truck spotless it is in great working order.

When we show our truck we pretty much leave it as is and are able to pull out of the truck show and go to work. The GPS’s are left on the dash, the camera is left on to show how it works, the dash cam is working, and the tire pressure monitoring system is on. We can easily show how this is a working truck and what we use for safety. Our goal once we have been judged is to show our truck inside and out about why we drive a Freightliner Cascadia, our business model, as well as how we live away from home as long as we do. It is a lot of fun to show people what is under our “Bolt Skirts” as well as our Onspot chains.

We were able to plug our truck into electricity and keep our lights on in the sleeper and the cab of the truck. This made it easier for the judges to see the sleeper and also as soon as the sleeper was judged to let people into the truck to talk about the Cascadia, expediting, and talk about how we are able to stay on the road for months at a time.

All of our hard work paid off as we got first in the after-market sleeper and second in the 2010 and newer working class trucks. Entering a truck show is a lot of fun and work but well worth the time and I encourage everyone to give it a try. Pride and Polish shows are our favorites due to how the show is run and the people we get to work with.

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